


Table For Two

by jab_a_niece



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25929730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jab_a_niece/pseuds/jab_a_niece
Summary: Goshiki Tsutomu was dining alone until someone from Date Tech came along.
Relationships: Goshiki Tsutomu/Koganegawa Kanji
Comments: 10
Kudos: 139





	Table For Two

**Author's Note:**

> For those who are reading this, thank you for clicking on this fanfic.

There's a saying that meals taste better when you eat with someone. Goshiki thinks that it's true. His meals have never tasted as good ever since the third years graduated from high school and left the team. 

He scrutinises the restaurant, looking at every single diner around him. Every single one of them has at least someone to eat with; some with their family, a few with their friends, and others with their significant other. As much as he hates to admit it, he's feeling very lonely right now. 

Of course, he wouldn't be alone here if he hadn't insisted upon himself to come here even after Kawanishi and Shirabu had told him they won't be able to join. They had to rush back to their dorms to get their schoolwork done - which he completely understands, seeing that they're in their third year now and have to prepare themselves for the extremely important final year exams, so their workload would naturally multiply.

Looking back at it right now, he should've just ordered takeouts and crashed their dorms. They totally wouldn't have minded.

He chews and swallows his food silently, his mind starting to wander back to the times when his team would order the same food from the menu every time. Sometimes they would even share their food together, and the saying "sharing is caring" would come to life. And with sharing good food comes equally good memories - like how the whole team would burst out into fits of laughter over Tendou's dumb jokes, except for Ushijima who always never understood them, and how they would have contests to see who could finish their food first and the winner wouldn't have to pay the bills. 

Good times those were.

He sighs.

As he takes a few sips from his drink, his eyes begin to wander around the restaurant once again, until they settle upon a familiar figure walking into the restaurant. It takes him another minute before he eventually recognises the boy at the entrance.

The player from Date Tech. Goshiki had played against him during the first-year camp last spring. Goshiki has a hard time recalling his name but, oddly, he could remember his position and number.

Date Tech's number seven, by far the tallest setter he had fought against.

Goshiki watches as the waitress attends to the setter, gesturing him to follow her to a vacant table. He internally panics as soon as he realises that there's an empty table next to him. He panics even more when he sees them walking towards the table. He quickly lowers his head and stares at his unfinished food resting inanimately on his plate, hoping that the setter doesn't notice him. 

From the corner of his eyes, he can roughly tell that the blond boy is sitting on the table next to his, on a seat diagonal to him. It is only a matter of time before he gets spotted. Even with his head down, there is no way he can escape with that iconic bowlcut he has for a hairstyle. He also finds it ironic how he was upset just seconds ago over having to eat alone, over how he misses his team mates, but when a chance presented itself before him to talk to the Date Tech player, he is more than ready to leave the restaurant unnoticed.

"Eh? Goshiki?! Is that you?!"

There he goes. Any chances to slip out of the restaurant, if he even had any to begin with, evaporated into thin air in a matter of seconds. He lifts his head to look at the setter, and sure enough, the blond male is grinning widely and waving his hand at him. He forces a smile and lifts his hand to return the friendly gesture, mouthing 'Kogane' tiredly.

The Date Tech player closes the menu in his hand and gets up abruptly. Goshiki's eyes widen when the setter walks over to his table and stands at the empty seat before him. "Is anyone sitting here?"

"Yes... they'll be back soon."

"Oh, but they're not here so is it okay if I sit with you until they return?"

"Sure... I'm almost done with my food though."

"Doesn't matter!" A smile forms on the blond setter's lips as he pulls the chair back and takes a seat. Goshiki rolls his eyes and turns back to his food, pretending to eat even though his appetite has already vanished ever since the other male stepped into the restaurant. An awkward silence fills the air between them until Kogane decides to break it. "What's that you're eating?"

"Tempura udon."

"Is it nice?" The way Kogane watches invasively as he slurps on the noodles is making him feel a little conscious of the way he eats, so he lowers his head even more to hide his face. When he's done, he looks up and wipes his lips with a piece of tissue paper. 

"Depends. I don't know if you'd like it, but I personally think this is one of the best dish they have here."

"Is that so? Should I get one too?"

"If you're curious enough to know how it tastes like, then yeah."

Kogane stares into blank space for a moment before he looks down at the menu in his hand, flipping through the pages carefully as he scans the items one by one. "Actually, there's also another dish that I'd like to try. I heard the afuri ramen here is the best in this prefecture."

"Then get both. It's not like I'd let you have a taste of my udon."

"I won't be able to finish them though..." Kogane closes the menu and stares at the cover for a minute before he slowly looks up at Goshiki. "Would you like to share the ramen with me?"

Goshiki has never turned his head so fast in his life, not even when he was playing in the court against the strongest of teams. He stares at Kogane incredulously as if he had said something beyond apprehension. 

"I'll pay for the ramen, of course, since I'm the one who wants it." He takes out his wallet and waves it in the air for Goshiki to see. "So? What do you say?"

"Do whatever, I don't care." The truth is, he does care. He came to restaurant with the intention to buy the ramen. It is undeniable that no other ramen all over Miyagi could be the one from this restaurant. The only reason why he had settled on the udon is because he didn't have enough money for the ramen, which was disappointing because he had been craving for it. For his pride though, he mustn't show how badly he wants it.

"If I order both, will you eat the ramen with me?"

"...Y-Yeah, I'll share with you."

Kogane grins. "Okay! I'll order now!" 

Goshiki watches as Kogane walks over to the counter to place his order, fishing out cash for the payment. Seeing that makes him feel guilty, so he takes his wallet out from his pocket and pours out all the remaining coins that he has left onto his palm.

When Kogane returns to the table later, he holds his hand out to him.

"What's this?" Kogane looks at the coins and back at Goshiki, genuinely confused.

"For the ramen... I only have enough to pay half. What are you standing there for? Just take it."

Kogane stares at it for another moment longer before a smile forms on his lips. "Keep it. Consider this my treat."

Goshiki just stares up at the blond setter, eyes wide and cheeks red. Sometimes his seniors would pamper him and treat him free food, but now that Kogane is the one offering to treat him, it feels entirely different from what he's used to. He scrunches up his face, stands up and shoves his hand onto Kogane's chest. "Take it. I'll feel really guilty if you don't."

"W-Well... okay, if you insist. But you really don't have to, you know, because I don't mind paying for it." Kogane reluctantly takes the money and keeps them in his pocket. 

Goshiki smirks. "It's only fair that I pay half since I'm gonna eat half of the ramen."

  


* * *

  


"Hey, Goshiki. You're a second-year, right?"

Goshiki slurps the last of his ramen noodles and wipes his lips with the back of his hand. It tasted delicious as always, perhaps even better now that he only had to pay half for it. "Uhhh, yeah. Why?"

"Has your team decided on who's gonna be the next captain?"

Goshiki thinks for a moment. As far as he remembers, his team hasn't discussed about it yet, though sometimes he does find himself wondering who is best suited to be the captain when Shirabu, Kawanishi and the other third-years graduate. "Not yet."

"Oh, well... then, how would you feel if they chose you to be the captain?"

"For such an important and honourable role to be bestowed upon me, I would feel very proud of myself and would put in everything to be the best captain for my juniors." Goshiki turns back to his ramen and takes another bite, after proudly reciting Ushijima's quote that he had memorised by heart after witnessing the super-ace being elected as the team captain previously. "Why are you even asking me this anyway?"

Kogane absentmindedly stirs the ramen soup in his bowl, ignoring the question for a moment, before looking up at Goshiki. The cheerful look in his eyes were replaced with uncertainty and nervousness. The look in his eyes catches Goshiki off-guard and realisation finally strikes him. He drops his chopsticks and looks back at Kogane in astonishment. "Wait, don't tell me..."

"They're considering me to be the next captain."

"You don't sound too happy about that..."

Kogane sighs, threading a hand through his hair. "I think they chose the wrong person to be the captain. I'm not fit to be one."

Goshiki knows he ought to say something to make the other male feel better, not because he'll feel guilty if he doesn't at least try to say anything but because someone kind like Kogane doesn't deserve to feel that way. The silence that is starting to fill the void between them is deafening, but with every passing second, he's as determined as ever to find the right words to cheer him up even though he barely knows Kogane any better.

"Ahhh, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have brought this up! I totally ruined this date, didn't I?" Kogane hides his face in his hands. Turns out, the silence had been too pressurising for him too. 

"What?"

Kogane tilts his head and looks at Goshiki through the gap between his fingers. "What?"

"You called this a date..."

"I did?"

"Nevermind, forget it." Regardless of whether it had been intentional or not, it still managed to make his face turn dark red. 

"Oh my god, I did..." Kogane's face morphs into a horrified look and just like that, his face turns as red as Goshiki's. "I'm so sorry... it slipped out before I even realised it."

"It's fine..." Goshiki swallows down another swirl of ramen forcefully. He no longer has the appetite to eat due to the overwhelming awkwardness that is bearing down on them. He clears his throat, the pressure to initiate a new conversation greater than ever. "A-Anyway, back to what you were saying... I don't know if this would help but, Ushijima-san once told me that even those who aren't natural born leaders can be a good one."

When Kogane doesn't seem to understand, he continues. "You may think that you're not cut out to be the captain, but the rest of your team think otherwise. And if you still don't think that you don't have it in you to take up a leadership role, you just have to do your best to live up to that status. Be the captain that all your team mates can rely on, because they put their faith in you."

Kogane blinks and stays silent for a moment, until he finally bursts out laughing. "I didn't know you could be so motivating, Goshiki!"

Goshiki glares at the trembling setter. "Don't laugh. Ushijima-san said this to me. It's one of the greatest advices he'd given me and now I'm sharing it with you."

"It's a good advice. Thanks for sharing it with me, I feel a lot better now." Kogane smiles in appreciation, his eyes lighting up as whatever self-doubt lingering within him vanishes away.

"Mhm, you're welcome." Goshiki lifts his bowl up and gulps down the soup. The spice burns his tongue, but that is what he likes most about the soup. 

Kogane watches him fondly as he finishes up the last drop of his ramen soup. "You seem to be really close to Ushijima-san."

Goshiki sets his bowl down on the table and licks his lips. "That's because he's my idol, the one person whom I look up to the most, and he even acknowledged my efforts to be the team's future ace."

"That's nice... The previous badge of third-years in my school team retired before I joined in, so I never really got to know them. Sometimes they would come down to watch us play, but as you said, I didn't get to play with them so the bond you have with your seniors is practically non-existent for me." 

"But they still come down to cheer you on, don't they?"

The Date Tech setter nods.

"Then that alone should be enough to keep you going."

"You're right. Oh, and you too. Don't get too caught up with memories of your old team to the point where you forget to create new ones with the current team you have right now. Bring them here to have meals together, if you will."

"Hm. Maybe I will." Goshiki replies, a small smile forming at the corners of his lips.

With nothing else to talk about, the pair finishes up the remaining of their food. While silence begins to fill the air between them once again, Goshiki's mind begins to drift off again. He used to be sitting at a table for eight. But now he's sitting at a table for two with a Date Tech player at the other end of the table. And much to his surprise, he's actually enjoying the company of the other male.

Once they're both done, they get up and left the restaurant together, the imaginary friend that Goshiki had lied about was long forgotten. They walk down the pavement side by side as they head towards Shiratorizawa Academy, because Kogane insisted that he walks the wing-spiker to his school entrance.

"Well, Goshiki, that was a nice meet-up even though it was not planned. If you ever want someone to eat with, you can always text me. I'll be happy to have another meal with you." 

The wing-spiker, and ace in the making, knows that statement is nothing more than just a friendly expression, yet he can't help but feel his cheeks burn because of it. No one has ever said anything like that to him before, and it sounded too much like an invitation to their next meal. He keeps his lips sealed, too embarrassed and touched to give an instant reply. Tears begin to form on the corners of his eyes, but he wipes them away discreetly and smirks. "Sure, we could totally go on another date like this."

The last thing he saw was Kogane's tomato-red face before he turned and walked into the school.

**Author's Note:**

> And for those who are reading this, thank you for reaching the end.


End file.
